Private Shares: Outlook 2026
December 2025 | Jennifer Pruitt
After a year in which some companies cautiously tested the waters with IPOs — yielding mixed results, the key question for 2026 is: Is this the year liquidity truly returns to private markets?
Following two years of resets, investors are eager to see whether the reopening of the IPO window and a rebound in secondary market volumes will translate into tangible and sustained exit opportunities.
Signs of a reawakening market
Liquidity began to re-emerge in 2025, with several meaningful exits and secondary transactions, signalling that investor confidence is slowly returning to private markets.
The selective return of companies to the public markets this year suggests that investor appetite is building, particularly for businesses with proven scale, resilient growth and credible paths toward profitability.
There also appears to be significant latent liquidity ready to be unlocked. Many leading private companies – those with strong fundamentals, established business models and sustained revenue momentum – have deliberately held back, waiting for more constructive market conditions before pursuing exit opportunities. As confidence improves, we expect these companies to become more active in seeking liquidity, creating a more supportive environment for investors.
This backdrop favours strategies that combine discipline and flexible, ready to act when opportunity emerges. As valuations and public/private comparables continue to converge, we anticipate more selective exits – whether through public listings or secondary transactions. However, the market remains discerning, and differentiation between stronger and weaker business models will remain key.
Lessons from 2025
2025 reaffirmed the importance of patience, discipline and selectivity in private markets. Following a period of exuberant capital flows and inflated valuations, the past year underscored that long-term performance is grounded in fundamentals – revenue quality, operating resilience and capital efficiency.
It also reminded us that liquidity is cyclical, but innovation is persistent. Many high-quality businesses continued to grow despite constrained funding conditions, highlighting the long-term nature of value creation in private markets. These lessons will continue to shape our approach in 2026, as we balance caution with readiness to deploy capital when the time is right.
Opportunity in 2026: Value meets liquidity
The opportunity set in 2026 is being shaped by a healthier balance between valuation and growth. Many later-stage technology companies have spent the past two years strengthening operations, achieving scale and improving capital efficiency – creating a foundation for renewed investor interest.
Valuations have adjusted to more sustainable levels, offering access to high-quality assets at attractive entry points through both secondary transactions and select primary rounds.
Importantly, there is now a significant amount of pent-up liquidity waiting to be deployed. A number of mature, high-performing private technology companies have delayed exits in anticipation of better market conditions. As confidence returns, we expect these businesses to re-engage, which could create a constructive environment for strategies focused on established, later-stage innovators.
For investors, this offers a rare alignment of value, growth and emerging liquidity potential – conditions that align closely with the opportunities our strategy is designed to capture.
GAM partners with Liberty Street Advisors which manages the Private Shares strategy for GAM Investments.